Bird guide · Sitta europaea
Nuthatch
What the nuthatch eats, where it lives, when it comes to feeders and how to recognise it – with sightings from across the UK.
- Season
- Year-round resident
- Size
- 5.5 in (14 cm)
- Eats
- seeds, peanuts, suet
- Feeds
- tube, hopper, suet cage
- Most common
- Wales, England, Scotland
Food
What do nuthatches eat?
At feeders, nuthatches take seeds, peanuts, suet.
An agile visitor to bird tables.
Feeder that suits it
A suet cage on a tree trunk or pole; peanuts and sunflower hearts work too.
Range
Where do nuthatches live?
Common in old deciduous woodland; absent from Northern Ireland and much of Scotland. By share of all bird sightings, nuthatches are most common in Wales (0.7%).
Season
Does the nuthatch migrate?
Year-round resident. Across the UK it is reported in every month; its share of bird sightings is highest in March.
Share of all bird sightings in the UK that are nuthatches, by month.
Identification
How to identify the nuthatch
Adults: Blue-grey above, whitish below with chestnut sides and a black eye stripe.
Size: 5.5 in (14 cm)
Nesting
Does the nuthatch use nest boxes?
Yes. Nests in tree holes or nest boxes, reinforcing the entrance with dried mud.
On camera
Getting the nuthatch on a feeder camera
Pick a camera feeder that takes a suet cage, or mount a separate camera next to a suet feeder on the trunk – woodpeckers cling to the bark while they feed.
Questions
Nuthatch: questions
What do nuthatches eat?
At feeders, seeds, peanuts, suet.
Do nuthatches migrate?
Year-round resident. Across the UK it is reported in every month; its share of bird sightings is highest in March.
Where do nuthatches live?
By share of all bird sightings, they are most common in Wales, England, Scotland.
What does a female nuthatch look like?
Similar, with paler flanks.